How Ambar Lucid harnessed her intuition to make a bold new indie EP

After seven years spent navigating an unpredictable music industry, L.A.-based indie artist Ambar Lucid is trusting her own instincts and charting a new path forward.

“I’m not a little girl anymore,” says Lucid in a video call.

The 24-year-old singer followed her intuition to make her third EP, “El Jardín de Lágrimas.” Released on May 9, the new project comprises seven spellbinding tracks that come nearly four years after her last EP, “Get Lost in the Music” — which was preceded by her 2020 debut album, “Garden of Lucid.”

The singer-songwriter is not your average musical ingénue. She was just 18 when she opened for Mexican American crooner Omar Apollo during his 2019 “The Voyager” tour. In 2023, she collaborated with Puerto Rican musician and Calle 13 co-founder Eduardo Cabra on the song “Toco Madera.” The song featured on his EP, “Martínez,” which was nominated for best Latin rock or alternative album at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

“There was a lot of inner growth [required] in accepting who I am,” says Lucid, who first came into the spotlight in 2018 with the release of her single, “A Letter to My Younger Self.” Born Ambar Crúz Rodriguez in New Jersey to Dominican and Mexican parents, she wrote the song about healing from a series of events that shaped her childhood; she was in elementary school when her father was deported to Mexico.

She adds, “I’ve made peace with that sensitive side of me instead of shaming myself, like [I did] when I was younger.”

To make her new EP, Lucid decided to work with the cards she has been dealt in life, pouring her soul into each line as she’s navigated the music industry independently, à la Lucid. Her ethereal vocals emit a bewitching aura on the trip-hop-inspired heartbreak track “There Goes My Baby.” Meanwhile the dreamy pop R&B melody of “Feel Everything” unveils the inner workings of her mind, while the lyrics in “Forest,” which features vocalist Danny Schiller, display her outward affection for her siblings.

Also unique to this album is the sultry bolero, “La Apuesta,” in which Lucid weaves the 1971 “No Es Tan Facil” by Puerto Rican singer Gilberto Cruz into her own coquette’s anthem.

In our latest interview, Lucid talks candidly about the fraught political climate for immigrants and their children, as well as balancing her artistry as she pursues an advanced degree in psychology.

This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

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What phase of Ambar Lucid does this new EP represent?
It’s introducing the adult version of me. I started doing music so young. My first EP, “Dreaming Lucid,” was when I was 15 or 16 and came out at 18. The reputation that I’ve created for myself and the discography that I have [is from] when I was younger. Now that I’m 24 years old, this is my transition. I’m not a little girl anymore. Now my music is more mature, it’s more self-aware.

Which song from “El Jardín de Lágrimas” would you say is your favorite?
One that resonates with me the most spiritually is the first track on the project, “Stranger Dressed in White.” I wrote about this character I envisioned during meditation and it was just very surreal and stuck with me for years until I eventually wrote a song about it. It’s about a woman that I saw in my head who had red hair and she was dressed in all white running across the field. I wrote a song about that in Mexico City, which I consider a very magical and surreal city. [The song is] just very out of the limitations of physical reality.

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I see you’re into tarot cards, which you feature in the music video for “There Goes My Baby.” What tarot card would you say represents you at this point in your life?
At this moment, probably the Five of Pentacles, which is not a fun card to choose to represent yourself. I feel like I’m always in a constant battle for many different reasons. Being in the music industry feels like always being at war and constantly having to defend my artistry and my vision.

When have you had to defend your artistry?
I have no management, which makes things a little bit more difficult for me. It’s hard for me to maintain those business relationships because I’m like a little kid [compared with] grown adults who have been in the music industry for like 10-plus years.

A song that caught my attention was “La Apuesta.” You’ve been teasing it a bit by using the original song “No Es Tan Facil” on your TikTok. Why was it important for you to include this song?
I don’t typically tend to be as open, which is one thing that’s different about this project. Usually when I talk about romantic situations I’ll be very vague, but with this song I wrote exactly what was happening. This person is playing games with me, but I [didn’t] wanna play games anymore!

Your song “Forest” features Danny Schiller, a Spanish singer. I saw that you two are dating. How was it like to collaborate with a romantic partner?
When we started collaborating, we were not in a relationship. We were just friends. He’s also the person that I wrote “La Apuesta” about and there was a lot of confusing energy at the beginning. However, writing was super easy for us because we were really good friends from the very beginning. I love writing with him. My intention with “Forest” was to communicate the unconditional love that I have for my siblings.

I saw a TikTok where you said you don’t want to make your Dominican and Mexican background the main focus of your brand. Do you mind expanding on this?
I’m extremely proud of my heritage and I will never stop talking about that. [However] I want to create an identity for myself that is not built around the fact that I am Dominican and Mexican. I’m Ambar Lucid. I am a very spiritual artist. I am also a psychology student, an advocate for mental health. My mother and my father just happen to be immigrants. However, that is just like one out of like the hundred million things about me that are interesting or that I could talk about.

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You released a 2019 documentary, “Llegaron las Flores,” where you go to Mexico and meet your dad for the first time since his deportation. I heard in a podcast that you have a lot of mixed feelings about it. What are they?
Those mixed feelings are towards how I went about the experience. I feel like I should have met my dad without a camera crew. However, I don’t regret it because I do think it did a lot of good for others. I think it brought to light a topic that a lot of people are very uncomfortable with.

How have you been reflecting on the current politics, especially anti-immigrant policies that have been in place?
It’s very discouraging and it’s just very soul-crushing, but at the same time it’s pushed me to stay dedicated to school and to care about the quality of what I provide to my community and to society. I refuse to be complacent with the lies that are being spread about my people. I refuse to be a statistic that enables people to believe certain stereotypes are just straight up lies. I’m gonna show them what Latino people are capable of.

What motivated you to sort of pursue a degree in psychology?
I’ve always been into introspection, which is why I’ve always gravitated towards tarot cards. Things like tarot and astrology are very psychological when used properly. I have been going to therapy for a long time now. It transformed me so profoundly that I became fascinated with the idea of studying psychology.

Spiritually, I’m an artist at heart. But the music industry just really puts my soul through the gutter and I was like, “I need to pursue something else.” I need to spend my time doing something that will bring me light and will make me feel like I’m doing something productive to provide to my community in a tangible way.

Your breakthrough song, “A Letter to My Younger Self” is still one of your most beloved songs on Spotify. When you listen to it now, what comes to mind?
I don’t think I can listen to that song without crying. That song proved to me that the music that I make, like purely with my soul, is the music that prevails because that’s what people need. People need real energy.